Characterization of COPD patients with severe airflow limitation and high physical activity

Lower levels of lung function have been related to lower physical activity (PA) levels in patients with COPD. However, the characterization of COPD patients with severe lung function and high PA remains still unknown. Aim: To identify the socio-environmental, clinical and functional characteristics of patients with severe lung function and high levels of PA. Methods: We recruited 407 COPD patients from primary care and hospitals of 5 Catalan cities and collected sociodemographic, smoking history, symptoms and medical history, health related quality of life (HRQoL), forced spirometry, exercise capacity (6MWT) and environmental data. We defined ‘severe COPD’ as postBD FEV1 Results: Patients with severe COPD (37%) had lower PA than those with mild-to-moderate airflow limitation (6840 vs 7965 steps/d, p Conclusions: Although more severity of airflow limitation is associated with low PA, there is a subset of COPD patients that has severe COPD and high PA. In our cohort, these patients were characterized by lower dyspnoea, better HRQoL and higher exercise capacity.